


Thaumaturgy

by Kosho



Category: Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: All The Ships, Cassandra Pentaghast Ships It, Confident Cullen Rutherford, Crushes, Developing Relationship, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Jokes, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Past Relationship(s), Pirates, Relationship(s), Secret Relationship, Secrets, Some Plot, Starkhaven, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-09 02:40:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12878442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kosho/pseuds/Kosho
Summary: Thaumaturgy is described in many ways, but simplest of all is the ability to perform magic and work miracles. The story may be one you think you've heard...oh just sit down and enjoy a story.





	1. Chapter 1

“Why didn’t you just tell us to look at this when you first woke up?” Leliana asked, amazed that the woman wouldn’t. 

 

“I thought it was more interesting to see the Breach you mentioned.” She said. 

 

Leliana, Cullen and Josephine pass the papers around and read through them. They speak quietly between each other for a time.

 

“Is this going to be a problem?” Cullen asked. 

 

“We’ve received no communication from Prince Vael yet, and no there’s no indication he intends to react to what could possibly be perceived as her kidnapping…” Josephine sighs. 

 

“I’ll keep some of my spies on the situation. If he decides to respond we’ll know.” Leliana added. 

 

“I can hear you. You won’t get any letters on my behalf.” she says. 

 

“Senga Forder? That doesn’t sound terribly like it’s from Starkhaven. These papers could be forged.” Leliana said observantly. 

 

“No, those are genuine. Also, I prefer ‘Sen’. Life is too short for full names.” Sen laughed. “I was born and raised in Starkhaven, and those were signed by all relevant parties.” 

 

“Then I’m curious why Sebastian wouldn’t try to reclaim someone who holds this sort of power.” Josephine pondered. 

 

Sen had long, thick red waves, caramel toned skin, and nothing to indicate something like this. Dragging her fingers to gather up her hair, she lifted it high, her ears narrow and pointed, completely lost in her hair. Prior to that moment, they’d found it easy to believe she was human. It was absolutely believable that she was native to Starkhaven, her accent noticeable, pronounced in softly spoken syllables and emotive facial responses. 

 

“How would it look for a ruler to devote resources to finding an elf?” Sen said simply. “It wouldn’t matter if it was true or not, it would only seem improper.” 

 

They seem to come to the same conclusion. The letter of marque and reprisal she carried let her commandeer a vessel from Rialto Bay, to the Waking Sea, the Amaranthine Ocean included. Not that anyone particularly had a problem with her being an elf, but for most other places that was a lot of influence and power to give someone like her. More still to a mage, but Leliana suspected it first, that she might appear to others as a human warrior, judging by her ear-hiding hair and the sword at her hip. A useful cover. Sen claimed she couldn’t recall what happened at the Conclave, and that had become obvious. What hadn’t was why she was there to begin with. If she wasn’t a Templar, not an open Mage, she wouldn’t have had a definitive reason to go. If she hadn’t killed the Divine as they now believed, that left spies, bodyguards and proxies. It was doubtful that she came in place of someone who was meant to be there, she stood out dressed like she had too much to be a spy, bodyguard seemed likely. 

 

There was a story there, one they’d very much like to hear, but whatever strings she might have pulled were locked safely in her brain, she wasn’t talking. Not that she wasn’t particularly open on any subject, just the one. She quite proudly declared that her vessel was one of the finest, equipped with plenty of cannons and a crew of the finest Marchers to be found. She hadn’t said how she came about the ship, only to say that it was commissioned from Antiva. Josephine could press some of her contacts, but if there’s this much mystery around it, the trail was likely to lead to a chain of proxy buyers, never to the source. 

 

If there were no threats, it was equally possible to transport merchandise, probably the source of whatever income she had. If business was good, and it usually was with shipping concerns, the jewels she wore, including the rings in her ears, the bar in her tongue, something done experimentally in parts of Antiva and Rivain, she’d heard were all likely to be purchased instead of stolen. She didn’t appear to be Dalish, no tattoos on her face at least. Her clothes weren’t typical Starkhaven attire, made of leathers and clothes that looked expensive, despite how simple in design it was. Sen had a length of dark purple cloth wrapped around her forehead, two lengths of beads rested on either side of her head, tipped in long, dark feathers, and spread between them, a delicate circlet that appeared to be made of silverite, inlaid with a small bit of aquamarine. No, the full picture said she wasn’t particularly flaunting wealth so much as trying to look presentable. Though it was equally obvious she wasn’t exactly broke either, assuming someone hadn’t made off with her assets. Truly she didn’t have to tell them everything, there was much to learn simply by observation alone. 

 

A scout interrupted, holding out the map Leliana requested well over four hours ago. Unfolding it to make sure, she handed it over. Sen took it, scrutinizing it curiously. They’d asked her to go to the Hinterlands to find a chantry mother, a task she was more than happy to see to, save for the problem that she simply had no head for directions on land. Sen could direct you to islands few people were even aware of and get you there without fail, but claimed everything looked the same here, and she’d get turned about without a map. Had even regaled them with a tale about a time she was asked to travel a few hundred feet from the docks of some port town they’d forgot to inquire the name of, and by the time she’d hit the end of the dock it hit her that she had no idea how to get to the shop in question. 

 

Sen holds a hand out to Josephine, and she handed over her quill. She unfurled the map again, propping the edges with iron weight, carefully mapping the path she had to tap, circling little things to keep an eye out for to make sure she stayed on the path, and a tiny x right at the Crossroads so she knew where to look for the Mother. Now that she had the map and had it mapped out already, she was more than ready to go, the sooner to get back and look for some sort of fun trouble to get into for a while. Varric, Solas and Cassandra caught up with her on her way out, and the three shared a laugh at the way she barely hit the edge of the village and already she was referencing the map. They don’t worry about her getting lost with Cassandra in tow, she’s not native to the area, but she’s been here about as long as Leliana and usually knows how to get most places they’d have cause to go to. It wouldn’t hurt to plan on her return being a bit later than they anticipated, just in case. 

 

Just outside of Haven, Varric glances up for a moment. “So, from Starkhaven. Do you know Sebastian then?” 

 

“Prince Vael? We’ve met.” she said. 

 

“I wonder, does he still wear that belt with Andraste’s face on it?” He asked. “Or I don’t know, maybe become less boring since Kirkwall.” 

 

“I’m not certain if he has it, but I’ve not paid attention to his wardrobe enough to notice.” Sen replied with a shrug. “Boring? I don’t know what you mean.” 

 

“You know,  _ everything  _ relating to the Chantry, always preaching like he’s trying to recruit.” Varric laughed. 

 

“Now I  _ really _ don’t know what you mean.” she said. “The Prince Vael I know never talks about it. Usually speeches on how we have to remain vigilant.”

 

“Somehow that’s not better.” Varric sighed. “Pretentious city though. All marble and gold, like they’re competing with Val Royeaux for tackiest place in Thedas.” 

 

Sen laughed at the way he tried to goad her. Right off the bat there had been plenty of teasing banter about which place was superior, Starkhaven or Kirkwall. Varric didn’t seem to mind continuing with it, and she seemed immune to tiring of hearing the jabs and dishing them back out. 

 

“We were, but we lost to Kirkwall. Apparently nothing can top the over the top beauty of someone belly dragging in Lowtown, or the wobbly stagger of a late night patron to your brothel.” She stated. 

 

It might have stung worse coming from anyone else, but from her it sounded soft and gentle. That lilt did her no favors. Still, if she really commandeered a ship full of what were basically fancy pirates, there had to be something they were missing. No one ever heard of a sisterly-sounding pirate captain, one with an accent it was rumored could drop the drawers of half of Ferelden, wasn’t going to keep control of stubborn men and women. No, there was an authority to her that she wasn’t showing yet, it was always the quiet type who was the the most surprising. Maybe she spat venom better than Cassandra, or barked an order equal to Cullen, or matched Leliana’s sweet fury. Sen checked the map, and Varric couldn’t resist poking her a little more. 

 

“I’m betting ten sovereigns she ended up at the Conclave completely by accident.” Varric said with a laugh. 

 

Sen stopped, glancing down for just a second longer, folding it up and smacking him with it. “I’d be more bothered by that, but I wouldn’t doubt it’s possible.” 

 

“So what did you hit me for?” Varric asked, the grin not leaving his face as he said it. 

 

“You changed the subject, you lose by default.” Sen reminded him. 

 

“I did, didn’t I? Shit.” He sighed. “Let’s focus on not getting lost, and we can pick it up again on the way back.” 

 

“Doesn’t matter how long you give yourself to think about it, I think I’m still winning this.” She smirked. 

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

To say they found Mother Giselle easily wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t the finding that was hard, it was slogging through the mages and Templars openly fighting in the middle of the Crossroads. Sen was clearly not willing to undo her serious cover, leaping about and swinging her sword like she’d been born with it. She’d found it easy to maneuver behind the high shields and weaved between spells flung in her direction like she could see exactly where they would go. This wasn’t her first fight, far from it. She claimed her ship had cannons, but it was like as not she preferred her combat close up. After all was said and done, she’d managed to convince Cassandra and Solas to lead her back safely, despite protests she’d never find her way back on her own. Varric insisted he’d make sure that wasn’t the case, but it seemed a task that would be more of a challenge than he thought when he turned to find her gone. Sen was off at a merchant’s stall, selling off bits she found on the bodies that looked like they might fetch a decent price. She turned around and bought a bottle, waving it in his direction before pointing off towards Lake Luthias. 

 

He followed her, silently thinking it might be a nice place for a camp to be set up. No one around, she peeled her boots off, dropping them. Those didn’t say Starkhaven either, much of her legs exposed, laced down the front, truly covering only her toes and the sides and back of her feet. The amusing thing was that when she stepped down from them, she wasn’t as tall as most elves, not that he was particularly looking for any reason other than how to describe her. Details were crucial for good storytelling, and he came up to about chest level to her, so yeah, compared to other elves and to humans, she was short. Still tall as hell to a dwarf, he could attest to that. She bent, rolling the legs of her pants up to her knees and securing them tightly, the wide, puffy look suitable to nearly knot at the sides of her knees. 

 

Sen dipped her legs in the water with a pleased sigh that seemed to say ‘This feels like home’. Starkhaven was mostly a dry place, save for the Minanter River. Definitely not like any elf he’d met before, most preferred the forests, the valleys of mountains, and here she was, soaking up the water like she was a damned fish. 

 

“Well, we’re here. Please tell me you plan to share, and we’re not just here so I can watch you drink.” Varric sighed. 

 

She patted the ground next to her, opening the bottle with a hearty swig following. Seasoned, it seemed, by the way the generous sting didn’t appear to bother her one bit. She held it out in offering when he took a seat. He examined the label for a moment before shrugging and taking a drink, he had to swallow again to process the strong flavor. Definitely not watered down Lowtown swill, not that he’d ever refuse it anyway. 

 

“So Sebastian authorizes an Elven mage to travel the waters for militaristic surveillance…” he mused. 

 

“Rivain, Antiva and much of the Marches authorized it as well.” She reminded him. 

 

“Have much trouble with the Armada then?” he asked. 

 

“None at all.” Sen replied. 

 

“None?” he repeated. 

 

Her marked hand sputtered to life with a surge of fire before she put it out. “None.” 

 

“I can’t help but wonder why he’d sign that though...to me, it makes very little sense.” Varric thought. 

 

She stared at him for a long moment before taking another drink and passing it back. “I can’t help but wonder if I can trust a dwarf with a mouth for tall tales.” 

 

“You wound me. I do manage a spy network, that  _ does _ require some degree of  _ not opening my mouth _ .” he said indignantly. 

 

“Then you already know why.” Sen said. “What do you do with something that can potentially threaten your rule?” 

 

“You get rid of the threat.” Varric said. 

 

“Exactly. Not everyone gets executed or exiled. Sometimes, they get repurposed. I was repurposed. Did you know I actually started out as a maid? My parents though, they were pirates, a lifestyle which left me unfortunately bereft of them when they were hung. I kept to myself, kept my head down and was allowed to keep my life and my job. Then a particular string of  _ incidents _ necessitated that I be kept away, and considering the job of my late parents, he was able to spin it as a more savory position, I was given my own vessel to command, people at my beck and call and authorization unlike my kind normally gets, all to prevent me being a problem. I don’t mind it at all.” Sen told him with a grin. 

 

“I take it you’re not going to tell me what the incidents in question were?” Varric asked. 

 

Sen accepted the bottle again, shrugging. “No, but I’m feeling sporting today. If you guess it, I’ll tell you. On my honor as a  _ Naval Captain. _ ” 

 

“You mean  _ pirate _ .” he laughed. 

 

“Yes, but technically, I’m an upstanding member of the military.” Sen shrugged. 

 

“You failed to provide adequate turn down service? Forgot to leave a chocolate on his pillow?” Varric suggested dryly. 

 

“Prince Vael is not interested in sweets. He prefers to make his own bed, I’ve never seen his room.” Sen said factually. 

 

“You stashed all your loot in his vault, and he got caught with it all.” Varric said.

 

“Oh, no, but that is  _ so _ good. I never considered I could set someone up like that. I can think of a good many people that would have been useful for…” Sen said, tapping her chin in thought. 

 

“Glad I could help, then.” Varric hummed in thought. “Maybe it’s not something you did, but something  _ he _ did...Did he happen to mention the attempts to invade Kirkwall looking for Blondie? That seems like a good reason to shut someone up.” 

 

“If you already know about that, there’d be no point to make me specifically go. Although I guess you  _ could  _ argue it was something he did.” Sen said. 

 

“He didn’t have some sort of mage hunt in the city, did he?” Varric asked, actually hoping that wasn’t it. 

 

“Maker, no!” she gasped. “That’s awfully dark.” 

 

“Well, it does happen.” He sighed. 

 

“In  _ Kirkwall _ .” Sen laughed. 

 

Varric looked at her seriously. She managed to use it to refuel their competition. Clever. It was obvious she was done with his guessing. Perhaps he’d gotten too close for comfort. He took a long drink, handing it back to her. 

 

“Which  _ your _ Prince played a part in, if I recall.” Varric observed. 

 

“We at least  _ have _ a ruler. I recall your viscount was beheaded.” She countered. 

 

“Our pirate had a sense of direction on land.” Varric jabbed. 

 

“Then that would make her not a very good pirate after all.” Sen pointed out. “The whole point of a pirate is that they rule the  _ sea _ , not master a city on their back.” 

 

Varric shrugged. She had him there. Isabela had lost her ship, and while she since was said to have a new one, the fact remained that she probably spent more time on land, perhaps not  _ always _ on her back, than he’d imagined from her stories that she spent on the water.

 

“At least we have a sea. How’s the ocean in Starkhaven?” Varric asked. 

 

“You win this round, Tethras.” She growled. 

 

“You know, it occurs to me we may not have known each other for very long, but you’re alright.” He said. 

 

“I’d say I’m a little more than alright. Just a little. You’re not so bad yourself.” Sen agreed. 

 

“Not so bad? I’m the  _ best. _ ” He told her. 

 

“That can’t be true at all. You don’t even have a hat.” Sen said. 

 

“Neither do you. So far the only one here with a hat has been Mother Giselle.” Varric sighed. 

 

“That’ll hardly do. We should get hats, big, stupid hats. Then we can compete for the top spot.” She joked.

 

“You’re on.” Varric told her. “Who can find the dumbest hat. This is going to be so good. No one else is in on it, they’ll think we’ve both gone mad. The looks alone will be worth it.” 

 

Sen set the bottle down, steepling her fingers in thought. That did sound like it would be fun, everyone was too serious as it was. Suppose she failed, and the world ended anyway, it wasn’t worth going without a smile. 

 

“Loser buys all the rounds when all this is over.” She added. 

 

“I’m looking forward to winning then.” Varric laughed. 

 

“What do you say we finish this up and head back before the crab thinks we’ve deserted?” Sen suggested. 

 

“Not a bad idea.” Varric groaned. “We’ve only just gotten our freedom, to lose it this quickly would be embarrassing.” 


	3. Chapter 3

Sen had barely got back before her, Solas, Cassandra and Varric were sent out again, this time to Val Royeaux. Sen had reluctantly changed into something a bit more formal, assured that looking presentable would only help. In this case, formal was a set of black armor, trimmed in red, interrupted by thick black leather breeches with red greaves. She didn’t look too thrilled about having to wear it, her normally quick, sure-footed gait reduced to something more along the lines of a drunkard’s stagger. Sen continually tried to adjust it, before it fell back into place. 

 

“Don’t you have something...I don’t know, lighter than that?” Varric asked. 

 

Sen rolled her eyes again. “I do, but I don’t want to talk about it.” 

 

“Now I have to know.” Varric laughs. 

 

“It’s this nice black leather coat, goes down to my ankles, but it’s lined in velvet, with red trim.” she mutters, shrugging idly. “It’s not so bad for land meetings, but the sea air does things to leather and weighs down fabrics. In short, it’s more trouble than I like for my clothing.’ 

 

“This. This absolutely screams Starkhaven. I saw the crest once, these are the Vael family colors, aren’t they?” Varric observed quietly. 

 

She’d had one of her gauntlets off to examine the mark, about to put it back on when Varric reached for it, examining the rings on her fingers. Those too were black, patterned in red leaves. Those aren’t part of any official outfit he’d ever been aware of. One on her index finger, another on her ring finger, but neither appeared to be the kind one got for an engagement or a marriage. Sen hastily pulled her hand back, slipping the gauntlet back on, but his grin said enough. He thought he was on to something, but she couldn’t say what exactly. 

 

“You slept with Prince Vael, didn’t you?” He asks. 

 

Cassandra suddenly halts in her steps, like she hadn’t been prepared to hear such a thing. Solas slowed to a stop as well, turning to face them curiously. 

 

“What gave you that idea?” Sen asks, almost convincingly in disbelief. “You yourself mentioned the Chantry, would a good Andrastian do that?” 

 

“ _ You _ said you’d tell me if I was close. On your honor.” Varric reminded her. “And it was  _ you _ who said he wasn’t like I remembered him being.” 

 

Sen seemed to be lending it some thought, and she was. Honor was supposed to be pretty important, but then again, pirates weren’t known for things like that, not normally, anyway. On the one hand, it wasn’t particularly like she couldn't just deny it completely, that would certainly be ideal. 

 

“All that for some silly rings?” she said. “My you have an active imagination.” 

 

Varric had to laugh to himself. Isabela wouldn’t have bothered to deny it, she would have admitted it and went into more detail than anyone cared to hear. As it stood, Cassandra was still frozen, like she didn’t want to be a part of this conversation. Solas still seemed to be curiously awaiting an answer as well. He could pretend all he liked, he took an interest in gossip too, whether he pretended otherwise or not.

“Do I have to point it all out?” Varric sighs. 

 

“Yes.” She said stubbornly. 

 

“All of your armor, your rings, and all of your earrings are all black, red, and white. Those are Vael colors. I could possibly believe that you went from maid to militant that quickly. What I don’t buy is that you’d make that jump,  _ and _ be in his colors unless you were fairly meaningful to him in some way.” Varric explains. With a shrug, he continues. “You knew that he doesn’t like sweets, but you specifically said ‘maid’ not ‘scullery maid’, so you don’t deal with the food personally. You also mentioned that you hadn’t seen his room, and didn’t know whether he had the belt or not.” 

 

“Doesn’t that suggest just the opposite of what you think?” Cassandra asked. 

 

“Not necessarily.” Solas says. “If she was close enough to know he doesn’t like sweets, and hadn’t paid attention to his clothes, that could suggest they met instead somewhere else outside of his room, and had been in some hurry to remove said clothes.” 

 

Sen palms her forehead like she’s trying to fend off a headache. Even Solas had joined in on the speculation, that was just sad. 

 

“Yes, alright? You’re absolutely right.” Sen mutters

 

“I knew he was full of shit about those vows.” Varric laughed. 

 

That was one Isabela had tried very hard to seduce, and failed every time. There was no way any warm-blooded man just swore it off and didn’t give in on occasion. It would have been interesting to know if he actually remembered how to make a move or if he hadn’t caught her interest. Then again, he still just seemed really, very boring. There were plenty of people even here in the ass end of Thedas, that were certainly more interesting. He could think of one person in particular that could stand to be interested in something besides soldiers. Oh yes. This was what he lived for, butting into people’s lives and imagining more entertaining situations. Sen and Cullen? Why not. He could ship it. Though he still wasn’t quite sure about the extent of her interest in the Prince, or his for her, he couldn’t reasonably see him being too caught up in her when he had a country to run and a mage to find.

 

“None of my business.” Sen shrugged. 

 

“Is he a decent man? I haven’t had dealings with him, though I have heard...stories.” Cassandra said. 

 

The way her gaze fixed on Varric, it was only too obvious he told the story she was referring to. He had made his opinion perfectly clear, the Sebastian he knew was painfully boring and more than a little extreme.

 

“Yes. I think he is, he’s a lot nicer than he could be…” She sighed. “You don’t have to be an elf to know the kind of stories the servants have. I’ll say no more on the matter, except that he took far better care of me than he had to.” 

 

Silence filled the spaces between the breezes, Sen blankly following the group in front of her, none of this was familiar, letting her lead was a disaster waiting to happen. Strange how wanting to push something out of your mind sometimes made it that much harder to get out. The first time they had properly spoken was mostly her trying to refuse treatment for a cut along her palm. One of the others had grown upset at her refusal to acknowledge her insults and slurs, and attacked. Of course when he came to see what the noise had been, they insisted it was all Sen’s fault, cut herself trying to deliver towels to the kitchen. He didn’t believe it, but back then, with everything to fear, it was absolutely worth taking the blame for it than to admit someone else was responsible. That’s what made the open water the best place for her, no one to push her around, or tell her what to do, nothing left to fear. I had my fair share of choices when I went away, and in the end, the siren call of the sea got to me just like it had for my parents. 

 

“I wonder if we’ll have a chance to meet him.” Cassandra said. 

 

“Trust me when I say you don’t want that.” Varric grumbled. 

 

“Anyway, new topic. Looks like it’ll get dark soon, we should figure out which campsite will be best.” Sen said. 

 

She eyed it seriously for a few moments, trying to decide where they might be able to reach. Solas peered over her arm, taking the map long enough to turn it around. 

 

“You’ll find it easier this way.” He said quietly. 

 

“Ah. That does help some, thank you.” Sen sighed. “Looks like this one is a reasonable enough stopping place today. Thoughts?”

 

Varric stole a glance, then Cassandra. They glanced to each other for a second before turning in opposite directions to avoid looking at each other. Being held captive was probably a good enough reason to be a little unhappy.

 

“That’s fine.” Cassandra said. 

**Author's Note:**

> Will involve past/referenced Sebastian/Quiz


End file.
